In preparation for our own centennial celebration (coming up in 2022!) we've begun researching the history of the Hood Canal region and will report our findings here on our blog!
Ever wondered where our logo came from??? It is based on the two beautiful bridges that span the two branches of the Hamma Hamma river as it empties into the Hood Canal. These arched concrete bridges, constructed in 1923 and 1924, are iconic waypoints along highway 101. (Read about the construction here).
Before the bridges were built, the highway used to run up the valley a bit. The causeway across the estuary was built at the same time as the bridges, creating the very straight road we know today.
It's crazy to think of all the traffic currently squeezing between these bridges, given that in the photo above (date unknown), they only look big enough to accommodate a one lane dirt road!
Since the 20s the bridges have been modified twice: once in the 1970s to remove the lowest overhead brace to allow for more vehicle clearance, and again in the late 2000s to add steel guard rails.
That last modification struck us as rather ill advised. Adding the guard rails made the bridges significantly harder to cross on foot. When the guard rails went in we interviewed our former neighbor, an elderly lady named Coco who used to walk from her home in Eldon down to the seafood store for an occasional cup of chowder. As the only legit Eldon-based pedestrian she shared our indignation about the guard rails... find that interview here and get a fun glimpse into the eerie green interior of our old seafood store.
When our family decided we needed an official logo for the business way back in 2004 or so, the bridges were an obvious inspiration. For years we'd been using a bridge image to represent the farm, as you can see from these vintage tee shirts (70s? 80s?)
We love having the bridges as the inspiration for our logo... they're functional and incredibly beautiful, and they symbolize connection. And connections are what Hama Hama is about... we work to connect people to each other (within a community or between generations) and to the land (through the food they eat, the work they do, the products they use). Our farm philosophy connects ecosystems (managing our upstream tree farm with our downstream oyster farm in mind), and we do our best work when we're connecting something useful with something fun, beautiful, and delicious.